W-Wait wait wait! He can’t be fucking serious right now.

"Y-You can’t expect me to walk out of here without..." I trailed as I finally got a grip.

Did I... did I just fall into a trap?

Zade’s eyes lingered on my face, then on my hair, which I had let down with a ribbon attached behind. He dragged his scalding gaze down to my powder-blue short-sleeved mini dress, then my legs, and my nude pointed heels.

A smirk touched his lips. "I don’t see the problem. You look beautiful, kitten."

"That’s not—!"

"One more thing..." He opened the door smoothly, standing by it. "Before you start entertaining unnecessary thoughts... Ms. Wade isn’t my mistress. That’s not my style."

The abrupt change of topic made me blink a couple of times, but his confession burned through the back of my skull

Then why the fuck was she giving him a live porn show?

"That’s none of my business." I picked up my bag from the floor and stepped out of the office.

The overwhelming feeling of being naked was too much to ignore, as if someone was gonna look under my dress and find out I had my pussy ready for view once. Jesus!

Elliot was waiting, and Lisa was nowhere to be found.

"Handle things from here," Zade said, hand slipping to the small of my back, almost natural. "My wife and I are going for lunch."

"I’m not going anywhere with you."

"I didn’t ask."

Now he’s forcing me?

"I only came here just to talk... but unfortunately, it was completely unnecessary. You were occupied with... activities."

Besides, after what happened in that office, I don’t think I can bear to be near him.

My head is racing with many things I can’t follow up on, but there was one thing that stuck with me and ate me up from the inside out. Disgust.

This man was my sister’s killer. Why on earth would I feel...!

Zade tucked the loose strand of my hair behind my ear, an action so simple as if he had done it several times. I shuddered at the brief contact, feeling nothing but immense dominance radiating off him.

"Don’t be like that, darling..." he murmured. "After you smudged my fingers with your juices, at least let’s have lunch."

My cheeks burned as I veered my eyes to the company.

I cleared my throat. "I’m ovulating... even a snake would look fuckable."

One brow lifted slightly. "Ouch."

"For the record... Elliot and I have somewhere to be..." I said.

"Do we?" Elliot intoned.

Take a hint, dammit!

"I need new bags. The ones I have are starting to feel repetitive, and he offered to take me."

That sounds like a good lie. I think.

Zade cast a brief look at Elliot, and felt as if the air had suddenly shifted, or perhaps it was my imagination.

I took out his black card, which I still had with me. "I have all I need for my shopping adventure."

"Indeed, you do..." He snatched the card.

"Hey!" I stretched to reach for it, but this man was too damn tall.

I was practically hanging like a hook, unable to reach the top. Crap! I shouldn’t stretch too much.

My cheeks were hot as I discreetly pulled down the rim of my dress, glaring hardly at this impossible reptile who gave me a knowing smirk.

"I’ve already taken extra time to prepare this. Standing me up would be rather cruel, darling."

I wasn’t sure there was anything that could hurt this man; he practically said that as a joke.

"You—"

He placed a finger against his lips to stop me. "Let’s not prolong this further."

"You can have lunch by your—" I gasped when he seized my waist with one hand and pulled me to his body.

"Go on... finish that."

I chewed the inside of my mouth, and then a grin spread across his lips. Trapping me by his side, he led me to the elevator.

Zade still didn’t let go of me, his nails digging more into my waist every time I tried to somehow wriggle my way out.

I couldn’t offer only a grimace. I disliked where this was going. I should have left when I had the chance, now it felt as if I was caught in a web.

There was this deep, sated feeling that this snake was up to something, especially with his earlier statement about moaning another man’s name.

What exactly did he mean by that? Wasn’t that a trick to spite me or something?

I rubbed my temples when a headache formed, and as I closed my eyes, I saw brief flashes.

I’m still trying to recall how I got to my room safely last night. Given how wasted I was, I found it highly unlikely I just walked a straight line to my destination.

Zade’s grip tightened, and I shivered because it felt almost familiar, as if he had held my waist just like this.

Has he? No... It’s not possible. I was alone last night.

The brass doors slid open, and I pushed that odd feeling away, focusing on now.

As we stepped out, the engagement was intense, more than when Elliot and I came through. It was almost as if we were celebrities.

Every single soul had their eyes on us, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they took out their phone for pictures.

The men who had somehow blended in the crowd came towards us, positioned behind and a few in front, dressed neatly in their suits and sunglasses.

We stepped through revolving doors where a blue Audi RS7 was waiting.

"What do you think?"

I snapped my eyes to Zade. "What?"

"Do you like it?"

My eyes widened as I veered them to the car; it wasn’t the moment of surprise that gripped me, but the fact that this has always been my dream car.

"A honeymoon gift..."

I... I thought the shoes were a gift for our sham honeymoon.